One goal decided the winners in the Premier League Round 6 derby games, with both winning teams recording victories in big battles.
Sabac climbed to the top of the Premier VRL League table after defeating Novi Beograd 17:16 in Belgrade.
Primorac edged out Jadran, 15:14, in the “Boka Bay Derby” in Herceg Novi.
Jadran dropped from 3rd to 5th place, as Radnicki and Primorac overtook the Montenegrin champion. Radnicki defeated Crvena Zvezda in Kragujevac, 10:8, after overcoming an early 3-goal deficit.
In the last match of the round, Buducnost beat Partizan 16:13 at home for its first win. Partizan now remains the only team with no points.
The success in Belgrade marked Sabac’s first victory over Novi Beograd in five years, highlighting its strong form following recent wins against Jadran and Spandau at home. The match saw several lead changes in the first half, with the hosts holding a 3:1 advantage late in the first quarter. However, Sabac responded with a 3:0 run to take a 4:3 lead by the 10th minute. Novi Beograd regained the lead, going up 8:7 by halftime.
In the third period, the teams quickly exchanged goals before Sabac launched another 3:0 run. The visitors scored three unanswered goals in less than three minutes, overcoming an 8:9 deficit to establish an 11:9 lead. From that point on, Sabac remained in the lead and did not allow Novi Beograd to equalize. The visitors extended their lead to three goals in the fourth period, with scores of 15:12 and 16:13. Novi Beograd converted two man-up opportunities while defending one man-down, to narrow the gap to one goal with 1:44 left on the clock (15:16). Shortly after, Andrej Barac increased Sabac’s lead. Vasilije Martinovic brought Novi Beograd within one again at 16:17 with 42 seconds remaining, scoring his sixth goal of the match.
Barac was Sabac’s top scorer with four goals, and goalkeeper Darko Djurovic also deserves recognition; although he conceded 16 goals, he recorded 14 saves.
Photo by Vuk Ilic/Jadran HN
In Herceg Novi, Jadran led by a goal or two throughout the first half of the game against its archrival. The hosts had an 8:7 advantage after the first 16 minutes. But Primorac started into the second half furiously. The Kotor-based side scored four straight goals in less than three minutes and built an 11:8 lead. The visitors maintained a three-goal lead until 13:10. However, Jadran caught up with Primorac in the 28th minute when Jovan Vujovic made it 14:14. Primorac’s Marko Mrsic hit the target to give the visitors a 15:14 lead with 03:15 minutes remaining. There were no more goals. Jadran had the last possession. Vasilije Radovic took responsibility two seconds before the buzzer, but Primorac’s goalkeeper Dimitrije Risticevic stopped his shot, posting his 13th save in the match.
Marko Mrsic scored four, and Yusuke Inaba added three goals for the winning team. Dmitrii Kholod stood out in Jadran with six goals, but the hosts’ other goalgetters were shut out by Primorac’s defense.
Photo by Igor Lazarevic/KVK Radnicki
Crvena Zvezda started the match in Kragujevac surprisingly well. The visitors led 4:1 in the 9th minute. Radnicki leveled at 5:5 just five seconds before the middle break, when young Doncic found the net from a counterattack. Boris Vapenski put Radnicki in front for the first time in the match by converting a penalty shot in the 18th minute. Less than a minute later, the hosts earned another penalty shot. This time, Prlainovic sent the ball into the net, doubling Radnicki’s advantage to 7:5. The hosts maintained a 2-goal lead until the final break. Sava Randjelovic widened the difference to three, making it 9:6 in the 26th minute. Crvena Zvezda reduced the gap to two goals for the remainder of the match, but Radnicki didn’t let the visitors come closer and earned a hard-fought 10:8 win.
Andrija Prlainovic and Sava Randjelovic contributed three goals to Radnicki’s victory, while Marko Petkovic scored three for Crvena Zvezda.
UPDATE, SUNDAY
Partizan’s young team opened the match in Podgorica very well. In the first quarter, they gained a two-goal advantage (3:1, 4:2, 5:3). Thanks to a good man-up conversion, Buducnost team took control in the second quarter, and led 8:7 at halftime. In the first four minutes of the second half, the teams traded goals.Partizan equalized at 8:8, 9:9 and 10:10. After the tenth goal from the visiting team, the top scorer of the World Championship in Singapore, Canadian Rauel D’Souza scored twice from 6 on 5s – the home side earned a 2-goal lead for the first time (12:10). In the final minutes of the match, Buducnost increased its lead to five (16:11), and Partizan scored two goals after that.
Rauel D’Souza Photo by Filip Roganovic/PVK Buducnost
Rauel D’Souza and David Stevovic led Buducnost with five and four goals respectively. Vuk Andjelic scored four goals for Partizan.
2026 Premier League, Round 6
Novi Beograd – Sabac Elixir 16:17 (3:2, 5:5, 4:6, 4:4)
Jadran m:tel – Primorac 14:15 (5:3, 3:4, 4:6, 2:2)
Radnicki – Crvena Zvezda 10:8 (1:3, 4:2, 3:1, 2:2)
Buducnost One – Partizan 16:13 (3:5, 5:2,5:4, 3:2)
1. Sabac 6 – 15
2. Novi Beograd 6 – 13
3. Radnicki 6 – 13
4. Primorac 6 – 12
5. Jadran HN 6 – 10
6. Crvena Zvezda 6 – 6
7. Buducnost 6 – 3
8. Partizan 6 – 0
Visit the Premier League’s page on Total Waterpolo Arena for the live scores, schedule and standings.
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